At the end of summer last year, I threw a Hawaiian luau for one of my daughters. It’s a great theme for a pool party, and all the girls really got into the idea. Swanky Press offers luau invitations with a hula dancer, and they will change the hair and eye color (and anything else you want) to maker her look like the birthday girl.
You can see even more luau party ideas on my Pinterest board - feel free to follow the board as I’m always updating it as I run across new ideas.
The party desserts were done by Noi of Noi’s Gifts and Gourmet. I just wish you could taste them – these were honestly the tastiest cupcakes I’ve ever had. She covered the tops with crumbled graham crackers to give it a “sandy beach” look. She then made tiny flip flops and hibiscus flowers out of fondant and added them to each cupcake. As a final touch, we added a paper drink umbrella to each one for a tropical feel.
Noi also wanted the birthday girl to have a special cake, so as a surprise for my daughter, she created a small centerpiece cake with a hula dancer and tiki man. We put it on a cake stand and wrapped the cake stand in a grass skirt.
No beach-themed party is complete without a shark, so I made one out of a watermelon. I carved him the night before the party, and balled the watermelon as I went. Making the shark head took quite a bit of time, so make sure you plan to “carve” out some extra time the night before for this project. His eyeballs are black olives, and I attached his fin with toothpicks.
I explained to my daughter that luau’s typically have a pig roast – but she said she didn’t want anything but sweets and snacks at her party. My own version of a pig roast then, was to make pink peppermint pig candies. I started with white chocolate melts from Michaels (in hot pink, of course), added a touch of peppermint oil, and molded them in tiny pig molds that I found at a candy supply store. You can make these a few days in advance and just seal them in an airtight container.
One of my favorite touches was nutter butter cookies that were decorated to look like flip flops. We also got some inexpensive straws decorated with hibiscus flowers. Goldfish made an easy “shark bait” snack.
The primary party activity was, of course, swimming. We took a break half-way through, and each girl got a grass skirt and made a flower lei craft. Once they were all dressed, a couple of the older sisters put on some ukelele music and taught the little girls how to hula. The hula lesson was definitely the highlight of the party.
As a party favor, we gave each guest a sugar cookie in a cute chevron favor bag, sealed with a sticker that matched the invitations. Noi made these awesome cookies, and hand-drew an iced hibiscus flower on each.
Maholo…thanks for reading! If you have any ideas from your owl luau, please leave a comment and share!
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